Former GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson Thursday defended Donald Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, who faces charges of assaulting ex-Breitbart News reporter Michelle Fields, telling CNN that the campaign official is a "very intelligent and efficient individual" and he sees no reason to "demonize him."
"If you can come up with a good reason, I'll listen to it," Carson told CNN's John Bolduan on the
"At This Hour With Berman and Bolduan" program.
And when Bolduan reminded Carson that Lewandowski faces misdemeanor charges, Carson told the reporter that "a lot of people have been charged with various things."
"You've probably been charged with something too, maybe with a misdemeanor or something," he told Bolduan, to which the reporter replied, "I actually haven't, as far as I know."
But there is a "problem in America" with people wanting to "demonize everybody rather than sitting down and having an intelligent conversation," Carson said. "The reason we have a court system is that when somebody is charged with something, all the facts can come out and a reasonable conclusion have been reached hopefully without a lot of hype."
Carson also expanded on statements he made earlier this week that there was
"probably" someone better than Trump for the presidency.
"There are better people than me at neurosurgery; there are better people than you being a broadcaster," Carson said. "There are better people at everything. But we have to utilize what we have . . .
"Obviously there's always going to be someone who is better at virtually anything. It doesn't mean that you're not good. But of course there are always better people at anything. That should be an obvious statement."
And there are always more things to learn, said Carson, as a candidate, including about the constituency.
"This has been the problem for several decades now depending on who is in office," said Carson. "This becomes your favorite group or that becomes your favorite group. The American people should be your favorite group, and the policies that we have should be the ones that favor everybody."
Earlier on Thursday, Carson appeared on Fox News' "America's Newsroom," where he defended Trump's decision to hire Washington insiders to assist his continuing race.
"One of the things that has not worked in recent years is the current president doesn't talk to the people on Capitol Hill," said Carson. "There is no relationship even with the Democrats. In order to get something done you have to be able to communicate and have a meaningful relationship."
He also fired back at President Barack Obama for calling Trump's plan to pay for a wall at the U.S. border
"half-baked."
"I haven't noticed a lot of very effective policies coming out of the current administration that stopped the flood of people from south of the border," said Carson.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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